Resurfacing
by Kurayami3
Summary: With Alex in Witsec and Olivia undercover, there will never be a better chance to try to meet up safely without blowing either of their covers. Set during season 7 when Olivia is in Oregon. Warning: This story will assume a lot and is being written for personal reasons. AO.


**Disclaimer:** The characters featured in here and their circumstances belong to the writers, producers, and show runners of Law and Order: SVU. I own nothing.

**1. Band-Aid Situations**

The drive from the office to her home on the wide Arizona streets was only twenty minutes. Alexandra Cabot usually liked this drive. If she timed it correctly, off the east where the land hadn't been developed yet, she could catch the most disarming sunsets, washes of magenta and swatches of blue that caught and held in her heart the first time she saw it.

When the sun goes down, it was almost like, after an exhausting day of pretend, of being the pleasant, but mild-mannered Human Resources agent, Alex King, she could roll down her car window and shed Ms. King, letting the shell evaporate in the dry air. Ms. King would float about, intangible, just as she really is, a figment of imagination, until Alex needed to call upon her again.

She was three years in hiding. She'd been moved four times since that awful night she'd forced the black sedans to meet with Olivia and Elliot. It felt like a lifetime ago, when there were parts inside of her so warm, they boiled over with hurt at the thought of leaving without a goodbye. How she couldn't bare the thought of Olivia not knowing.

"Stop the car," she'd said. "Turn around. Now. I change my mind."

"You can't change your mind, Ms. Cabot," one of the agents had told her. She didn't know which. His face has been erased from her memory by hate and time, this poor fool only doing his job.

She'd glared at him and then she opened the car door while it rolled 45 miles an hour down the lonely, isolated country lane. Alex would have jumped, not because she thought she would get anywhere very fast, but because she needed them to understand how important this was. She needed to see Olivia and if they didn't comply, she would make damn sure they're jobs were hell.

She was pulled from the open door so fast, her head bobbed painfully and one of the DEA agents reached over and yanked the door shut just as the sedan skidded to a stop. When she was secured, the small convoy started up again.

It took her three more tries before one of the agents made a call and they waited by a small scraggly birch tree for the detectives to arrive.

* * *

The sun was beginning to disappear down the flat horizon beyond and Ms. King was almost, gloriously, gone. There was always a chill of relief when it happened, when the sun had vanished and Alex Cabot returned from the dead, wiser, but significantly less warm, less reckless.

She pulled into her apartment complex and then maneuvered the car into her parking spot beneath the brown awnings stretched over the spots. She cut the engine, looped a finger through the key ring and pushed the door open. Then she made her way to the mailboxes.

"Hey, Alex!"

Alex turned to see Felicia Sprout just coming back from a jog. Felicia smiled and waved a hand before quickening her pace to catch up. She flipped through her phone and then pulled the headphones from her ears. She was tanned from the Arizona sun and her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail, bangs held in place by a bright pink headband.

"Felicia," Alex said, slipping her mail key in her box. "You're enjoying the sun."

"Something you could see a little more of, honestly, A." Felicia said, extending her tanned hand so Alex could see the drastic difference between them. "How are you ever going to get a woman to see you more than once if you're always the great ghost of Christmas past?"

Alex smirked. "Lucy was hardly my type. And you know it."

She opened her mailbox and was surprised to see a flat brown box that just barely fit inside. Her breath caught, but she quickly exhaled before Felicia could notice. She reached for the package as naturally as she could.

"Yeah, Luce was a bit of a wild card, I admit." Felicia reached up to pull her headband from her forehead. With it hung around her neck, she carefully unfolded the pink fabric until it revealed her house key and driver's license. "There are so many others, Alex. And I hate seeing you all alone when Janice and I do our get-togethers."

Alex nodded, listening but not hearing. She turned the box over to look closer, noticing the business card taped to the upper left corner where the return address should be, just like the others. Then noticed that Felicia had stopped speaking and was looking at her expectedly.

"You are coming tonight, right?" Felicia asked, eyebrows lifting further. "Janice is making guacamole and burgers. We've got beer. And I think it's time you met Claire."

"Lucy's not going to be there?"

"Cancelled last minute."

"Then I'll be there," Alex said. "But I'm only going for Jan's guac."

"Well, we'll see." Felicia's eyes narrowed into catty strips and she grinned as she took a few steps back. She pointed a finger at her. "7:30. Don't be late."

Alex waved goodbye, watched Felicia spin on her heel, and jog away to her building. Then Alex wasted no time slamming her mailbox shut and taking off to her apartment, not feeling safe to even look at the box in her hand until she was behind closed doors.

Quickly, Alex kicked off her heels and brought the box to her dining room table. There was her name printed on white computer paper, cut out into a small rectangle, and taped to the front, just like the other two. The business card was the same as well, advertising a plantation in Georgia that sold peaches in boxes the size of suitcases. Alex had already investigated them as much as she could when the first box came.

Just like the other two, there was a customs form filled out with "1 bike lock" and was stamped out of Vancouver, Canada, entering the USPS through San Francisco.

She grabbed the letter opener from a catch-all tray in the center of the table and slit the clear packaging tape holding the flaps closed. Inside was a wire bicycle chain, unpackaged, and carefully coiled in the small box with the four-digit security lock facing up. That was different. The instruction manual was slipped to the side. There was nothing else in the box.

Alex sighed and yanked the instruction manual out of the box as she rested against the back of the chair she sat. On the last page, scrawled in black sharpie, she read, _Expires 11/17/06_. That was next week.

She stood and went to the closet of her bedroom where she fished out the other boxes and then returned to the dining table. She set the three locks side by side behind their respective boxes.

The other two locked with a three-digit system. Alex started at them. She should report this. She should have reported it a month ago when the first one arrived. She didn't know why she hadn't. Perhaps it was the business card. Those damn pink peaches printed in soft ink behind the address. Every time she looked at them, a shiver threatened.

"_God, you feel so good. Your skin's like Georgia peaches."_

"_That's not funny, Olivia. Every time I see a peach, I'm going to need you." _

"_I'm not complaining. Still the best sex we've ever had."_

"_Oh-."_

"_You should ask your mother to send us another box." _

"_Not unless you finish what you started right now."_

Alex sank to the chair once more. She placed a hand to her forehead and leaned over. She let herself breath until her shoulders were solid once more and then she closed her eyes and let herself remember.

* * *

"I hope you're prepared, Alex," Janice said, scooping out soft avocado from their shelves. "Felicia didn't invite anyone else but you and Claire and I just saw Claire pull up through the window."

Alex frowned, but set her gaze back to the avocado cubes and the small dishes of the ingredients she was tasked to add. Lime juice, cilantro, salt, and garlic. She'd offered to help Janice in the kitchen because she preferred Janice's calm demeanor to Felicia's overzealous caretaking.

Felicia and Janice's get-togethers were seldom just occasions of fun with friends. Sometimes, she was successful, as was the case with Kris and Rachelle. Other times, the pairings were painfully misguided, as was the case with Alex and Lucy, a petite animal-rights activist often involved with bold statements and events, exactly the sort of higher-profile person Alex couldn't afford getting tangled with.

There was a knock on the front door and the two of them paused momentarily to see Felicia bound to it, excitedly. She opened the door and almost squirmed where she stood before Claire stepped inside and accepted her hug.

The door swung closed on its own and Alex watched curiously. Felicia pulled away, still holding on to Claire's hands and talked enthusiastically, giving Alex her first complete look at Claire.

Claire was tall and lean and from the flexing of muscle beneath the rolled sleeves of the buttoned down shirt she wore, she was fit and athletic. Her hair was thick with waves of raven, tamed with product, and layered to just below her chin. Clearly, somewhere in her family tree, there was a mixing of blood to give her those dark eyes and natural tan.

"Oh, like what you see?" Janice asked, calmly cubing the rest of the avocado. "Most women do with Claire."

Alex flushed but knew how to cover her blunders. She looked away when she saw Claire glance her way. Then she pretended not to hear Felicia call her name the first time.

"You better go now or Felicia will bring Claire here and you won't get any breathing space in this tiny little kitchen," Janice told her.

Alex set the glass mixing bowl down on the counter and shot Janice a sour look.

"So much for being on my side," she said, and then made her way from the kitchen to the front door where the two women stood.

"Offer her a beer," Janice called after her, which Alex acknowledged with a lazy wave of her hand.

"Oh, here she is," Felicia said when she noticed her approaching. "I was just telling Claire all about you, Alex."

"Never a good thing." Alex smirked at her and held her hand to Claire. "Hi. I'm Alex King. Felicia thinks we two lonely hearts will hit it off well. I'm not sure what I think. You?"

Claire blinked, but then managed a small laugh as she took Alex's hand and shook it.

"Claire Fairbrooks. And I suppose we'll just have to wait and see?" she said. She gave Alex's hand a squeeze and flashed her a boyish grin. "A pleasure to meet you, Alex."

Alex's eyebrows threaded for half a second and fought the frown she could feel tugging at the corners of her lips. They have the same smile, Claire and Olivia. The same shape of mouth, the same thin lips.

"Likewise." Alex forced a smile and retracted her hand and the two of them turned to follow Felicia.

Felicia nearly skipped over to Janice who was uncapping some cayenne pepper. The apartment is not that big. The space between the front door and the kitchen is less than twenty feet and Alex can see the grin curl on Felicia's face. It rattled an irrational irritation in her that Janice seemed to notice.

"Honey, can you check the grill?" Janice asked with a quick peck to Felicia's cheek.

Felicia frowned, but obliged, and she was gone before Alex and Claire had crossed the distance from the door.

"So, Felicia tells me that you're an HR representative?" Claire said, stepping out of the way of the kitchen to let Alex enter first.

"That's my boring dayside personality, yes." Alex nodded and passed by Janice with a quick apology. She opened the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of beer from its cardboard holder. "Beer?"

"Oh, yes, please." Claire perked at the site of the bottle and reached forward, taking the beer with an appreciative smile. "So what's the other personality?"

"I'm sorry?"

Claire pulled her keys from the pocket of her slacks and popped the top to her beer with a tool Alex couldn't see. She took a sip and looked at Alex.

"If you're the HR representative by day, who is Alex King by night?"

"Miss Forever Alone-Arizona," Janice answered turning to face them both with her now ready guacamole. "And you, Claire, are Detective Heartbreaker. Don't mess with this one. Alex isn't like those other girls you're used to. She's particular and not so easily impressed, not even by you."

Claire grinned but took the jab with good grace. She leaned back on the counter and took another sip. "Geez, Jan. Ouch."

"I can fight my own fights, Janice." Alex said, leaning against the counter by the sink, holding her own beer. "You're an officer?"

They both looked at her and Jan rolled her eyes before making her way out of the kitchen to the veranda where Felicia stood, poking hot coals.

"Oh, god. You're not one of those, are you, Alex? Come on, you two. The grill should be ready."

"Just a beat cop, nothing fancy." Claire shot Alex a guilty look. "Let me guess, you would have preferred a detective, am I right?"

"I don't prefer anything," Alex said. "But I imagine, either way, you would be doing exactly what you want to be doing and how I feel about it would matter very little anyhow."

Claire considered her and in the moment of silence that fell between them, Alex found herself searching her features, the thickness of her eyebrow, the angle of her chin. Not Olivia, but in the smallest ways, enough like her to make her heart remember what it's gone so long without. Claire noticed Alex's still unopened beer and gestured toward it.

"Can I get that for you?" she asked in a voice softer than anticipated.

Alex handed the bottle over, watched her pull out her keys again, and pop the top. She received the bottle once more, but didn't take a drink.

"Thanks," she said, and then cleared her throat.

"This is unlawful labor," Claire called as she finished peeling a few mandarin oranges. "You're not supposed to put your guests to work, Felicia."

Felicia had Claire slicing fruit while she was rummaging in her cabinet. She craned her neck so she could see around the open cabinet door and shot Claire a look.

"Well, it's your fault for forgetting to bring the dessert you promised, so fruit salad and black berry margaritas it is," Felicia told her. "And besides, Alex helped with the guacamole earlier, so it's your turn."

"Really," Alex said from the other side of the kitchen counter. "I'm full and it's a little late for alcohol."

"Hush," Felicia scolded and finally found the tequila she had been looking for. She opened the freezer and pulled out a package of frozen black berries and pointed the bag at her. "You live three buildings down and work four-tens. You are staying for one margarita."

Janie grinned behind her glass of water, but true to her nature, said nothing. Alex glanced at Claire who arched an eyebrow and offered a grin. In her left hand, she held a peach she had already begun to peel, the juice dripping into the palm of her hand and down her wrist.

Claire noticed Alex looking at the peach and with the knife, cut a large wedge free. Then she offered it her with a smile. "Here, have a piece."

Alex's eyebrow furrowed and she took the wedge. One bite sent rivulets of sweet saccharine juice down her wrist and she hunched her shoulders to try to catch it. Claire chuckled and watched, twisting her own wrist over to lick up the sticky.

"Not exactly the sweetest, huh?" she asked.

"No, not really." Alex tried to smile. "I've had sweeter."

Beside her, Janice cleared her throat and curbed the counter. "So, I think Felicia and I will finish up in here. You two go rest in the living room."

Felicia was beaming. Alex excused herself to the bathroom.

* * *

She needed the privacy. She needed a moment alone to collect her. Where had all of this come from? She had never been this shaken, not since after those first few days in the first apartment with the new identity. It had never been like this before.

But that afternoon she had opened up the gift box from her mother and sliced into the peaches, it came back so vividly now. How Olivia's fingers dripped with the nectar and Alex had taken them into her mouth. When she took a bite, the juice had run down the side of her mouth and begun to drip down her neck before she felt Olivia catch it with her hot tongue.

They'd made love, fierce and unforgiving, beginning in the kitchen and then stumbling through the apartment to the bed and the kisses didn't stop. The touches, and the soft moans continued long until the sun had passed.

Alex took her time washing her hands, and then watched herself in the mirror as she dried them with the towel hanging by the doo. Alex saw how haunted she looked in the mirror and cursed. She gave her eyes a quick rub and then forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Goddammit, Cabot. You're a mess.

When she returned, Felicia and Janice were coating the rims of the glasses. Felicia shooed her away with a scowl and nodded toward the living room where Claire reluctantly took a seat on the sofa.

"She likes you," Felicia said. "Go join her."

It was a command more than it was a suggestion and Alex, suddenly very weary, silently obliged. When she entered the living room, Claire glanced up and then smiled at her.

"Mind if I sit down?" Alex asked.

"Mind? Not at all."

She sank on the sofa beside Claire and relished the firm support. She really just wanted to take a long shower and crawl into her bed and try to chase the memories away.

"I'm sorry if this is forward," Claire said, situating herself so she could face Alex. "I actually really like you, but I think I'm getting mixed messages. I see you watching me, which is nice, but then you always look disappointed."

Alex sighed and then straightened up. She tried to offer a smile. "I'm sorry. That must be very confusing."

"Look, it's okay if you're not feeling it," Claire said, sitting closer. "I can take a rejection."

Alex shook her head. "No, no. That's not it. You're beautiful, Claire. And you seem sweet. It's just that-."

She paused because she didn't know how to say it.

"I remind you of someone else." Claire's voice was still clear, but the edges softened. "Someone special."

There it was an entire relationship and everything that happened between she and Olivia contained in that neat, simple sentence. How hilarious. Somehow she had seemed so sure nothing could contain them so easily.

"I'm sorry." Alex tried again. "She-, we-. It's over. I guess I haven't gotten used to it yet."

Claire studied her in that observant way Alex knew good cops to do. She nodded and then drew a felt pen from her pocket. She reached over to take Alex's hand, writing in careful, well-formed print, a series of numbers.

"Well, _I _would like to see you again," she said, finishing the last digit. She capped the pen and pocketed it and returned Alex's hand. "But I'll leave that up to you."

Alex considered the number on her hand. Ten digits. First three, then three, and last four. She squinted at the first three numbers and Claire chuckled.

"You're wondering about the area code?" she asked. "I'm actually from New Mexico. I just kept the number."

Suddenly, Alex blinked, stunned. A phone number. The bike locks. It was a phone number. It had to be. What else could it be? She stumbled over a thank you and tried to refocus on the moment, on the woman, before her, but Alex felt her heart shaking off its slumber with hesitant palpitations.

"You okay?" Claire asked her, leaning forward.

Alex nodded too quickly, smiled too eagerly. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Don't worry."

She was saved from the moment when Felicia and Janice came by with a tray of four margaritas and bowls of fruit salad and whipped sour cream.

She stared at the locks, set up side by side on the dining room table, and held her phone in her hand. Enough time had passed since that moment on the couch that doubt was starting to creep into her head. It could be a trap. Velez's men could have found her. Maybe it was even Connors. She should call the marshals. She knew she should. Another upheaval, another move, another job and another identity to get used to didn't appeal to her at all.

But the business cards, the peaches…

She dared not to think what she wanted, but if it were true, if that fleeting hope in her was correct, this wasn't a conversation she wanted other ears to hear.

Alex dialed and waited, a thumb hovering over the "talk" button. She took in a breath.

"Goddammit, Alex, you'll regret this," she muttered and then pressed the button.

The line rang three, four times, before it connected. She could hear quick shuffling on the other side, breathing.

"Hello," she said, just barely.

"I knew you'd figure it out," she heard.

Her chest tightened and her words caught raw in the back of her throat. That voice, so familiar, but so far out of her reach for so long. Alex sank in a seat. Her hands trembled and her vision blurred.

"Oh, god." She sucked in air. "Olivia?"

"Yeah. I'm here. It's me. I've missed you."

Alex doubled over and wept.

**A/n:** I don't know what this is. Perhaps an excuse to bend raw emotion into something more productive.


End file.
